Autobiography: writers Books

Book SynopsisSHORTLISTED FOR THE BARBELLION PRIZE 2021 'A manifesto for recalibrating' DAILY MAIL 'I can’t think of many books where the reader feels so passionately on the side of the narrator' GUARDIAN 'A profound redefinition of the very idea of vitality' FINANCIAL TIMES Josie George lives in a tiny terraced house in the urban West Midlands with her son. Since her early childhood, she has lived with the fluctuating and confusing challenge of disabling chronic illness. But Josie’s world is surprising, intricate, dynamic. She has learned what to look for: the routines of her friends at the community centre; the neighbourhood birds in flight; the slow changes in the morning light, in her small garden, in her growing son, in herself. In January 2018, Josie sets out to tell the story of her still life, over the course of a year. As the seasons shift, and the tides of her body draw in and out, Josie begins to unfurl her history. And against a world which values progress and productivity above all else, Josie sets out a quietly radical alternative: to value and treasure life for life itself, with all its great and small miracles. 'Full of kindness, A Still Life will make you a better person' CLARE MACKINTOSH 'A Still Life is joy-lit: vivid, lovestruck, hopeful and wise' MELISSA HARRISON 'Josie George is the kind of writer I strive to be ... A tough, tender, beautiful book about existing in a body in the world' ELLA RISBRIDGER 'Could not be more timely ... An immensely talented writer' LINDA GRANT Trade ReviewInspiring ... How fragile we are, she notes, how fleeting our joys ... Describes a way of living now familiar to many of us -- TRACEY THORNE * New Statesman *A moving account of living with a chronic illness * Independent *In all honesty, I've never come across a new writer with more to offer the world -- MELISSA HARRISONA profound redefinition of the very idea of vitality * Financial Times *Audacious, exuberant ... I can’t think of many books where the reader feels so passionately on the side of the narrator * Guardian *A Still Life is that rarest of things: a memoir that reads like a novel. In a world where we are continually made to think bigger is better, Josie reminds us of the joy to be found from a small, quiet life. Full of kindness, A Still Life will make you a better person -- CLARE MACKINTOSHThis book would always have found a loyal readership – its vivid prose and meticulous, kindly candour ensure it. But coming now, at a time when record numbers have been struggling with their own ill-health and when many more have been forced to slow down, it feels like a manifesto for recalibrating * Daily Mail *Could not be more timely ... Josie is an immensely talented writer and thinker who sees a world in a grain of sand and we're all made richer for it ... I hope it’s a bestseller -- LINDA GRANTJosie George is the kind of writer I strive to be: meticulous and exacting in her documenting of joy and pain, and how those are the same thing. George sees things other people miss, and that's the point: it's about noticing, about seeing, about learning to see. A tough, tender, beautiful book about existing in a body in the world. I loved it -- ELLA RISBRIDGERThis memoir feels like the book we all need right now * Good Housekeeping *An exquisitely pitched memoir of disability and living with chronic pain, but also of finding joy and wonder * Bookseller, Editor's Choice *

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Book SynopsisFROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF WHAT I LOVED AND A WOMAN LOOKING AT MEN LOOKING AT WOMEN''Richly intelligent insights on every page'' Financial Times''A rare kind of quiet intellectual confidence'' Sunday TelegraphIn these fascinating, lively and engaging essays, Siri Hustvedt shows what lies behind her fiction: an abiding curiosity about who we are and how we got that way. Covering a wide range of subjects, from the nature of desire to false memories and the paintings of Goya, she draws on her own life and on the insights provided by both the arts and sciences to deepen our understanding of what it means to be human - to live, think and look.''There is something refreshingly straightforward about her style. It has the confidence born of complex but well digested thoughts'' ObserverPRAISE FOR SIRI HUSTVEDT:''Hustvedt is that rare artist, a writer oTrade ReviewHer erudition, the sharp clarity of her thinking, the variety of her sources and the supple ways in which she weaves them into personal narrative, coupled with her fearlessness in the face of those aspects of the human condition which are of necessity ambiguous, infuse her work with a rare kind of quiet intellectual confidence...I'll be returning to these essays. * Melanie McGrath, Sunday Telegraph *richly intelligent insights on every page * George Pendle, Financial Times *Siri Hustvedt is best known as a novelist and her novels have received a deserved acclaim. But to my mind, she is even more to be admired as an essayist...there is something refreshingly straightforward about her style. It has the confidence born of complex but well digested thoughts and thus lacks the tendency to obfuscate that is the hallmark of the inferior thinker's style. * Salley Vikcers, Observer *...she is an inspiring guide to territory where both the humanities and the sciences can throw light on the ways in which we construct meaning in our lives. * Nick Rennison, Sunday Times, Culture *Hustvedt addresses a broad public without dumbing down her material... At once stimulating and warm-hearted, with sentences of drop-dead beauty and acuity on nearly every page. * Kirkus *Hustvedt's deep interest in art, psychology, and neuroscience shape her brilliantly insightful novels as well as her virtuoso essays...Mystery, fact, intelligence, and enchantment flourish here. * Booklist *exquisitely eloquent...You'll be by turns inspired, provoked, educated and enchanted. Her writing is scientifically precise and poetically elegant, and this intense compilation merits careful attention. It's a book you can return to time and time again. * Beatrice Hodgkin, Easy Living *These essays offer thoughts on locating morality in the brain, the origins of desire and who we are when we sleep...I suggest you take this book to your favourite corner, turn off the phone and allow yourself to be reminded of the pure pleasure of using your mind. * Clare Longrigg, Psychologies *

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Book SynopsisA guide to writing fiction by the Booker Prize-winning author of Vernon God Little.Part biography, part reflection and part practical guide, Release the Bats explores the mysteries of why and how we tell stories, and the craft of writing fiction. DBC Pierre reveals everything he learned the hard way.

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Book Synopsis*The Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller*Rose Tremain (or Rosie as she was then) grew up in post-war London – a city still partly in ruins, where both food and affection were fiercely rationed. But when she is ten years old, everything changes. She loses her father, her house, her school, her friends and is dispatched to a freezing boarding-school in Hertfordshire. Slowly though, the teenage Rosie escapes from the cold world of the Fifties, into a place of inspiration and friendship, where a young writer is suddenly ready to be born.‘An evocative, unflinching memoir...electric’ Mail on SundayTrade ReviewRose Tremain famously eschews autobiographical material in her fiction, so this account of her childhood feels so fresh it stings… [she] brings her formidable talent for characterisation to bear on the vanished, culpable cast of her childhood -- Claire Lowdon * Sunday Times, **Books of the Year** *Rose Tremain manages to fit more wisdom, more unforgettable scenes, more illuminating recollections, into this 194-page memoir than other writers do in memoirs three times the length. A book as nourishing, but concise as this makes you wonder why other writers have to be so long-winded ... For anyone who loves Tremain's novels this memoir is a vital companion -- Ysenda Maxton Graham * The Times *Intriguing and moving ... So much more alert and open and alive than so many slightly disappointing memoirs by otherwise great writers ... Rosie is a work of self-discovery in the best possible sense of the word - it pulls you in, unsettles, comforts and exhilarates and, finally, makes you see your life anew -- Julie Myerson * The Spectator *Rose Tremain turns to non-fiction for the first time with this lyrical account of her life up to the age of 18 ... The evocation of 1950s schoolgirldom, with all its emotions, elations and smells, is wonderfully vivid - distinctive, like being donated a set of dreams ... A quiet drama, but as you'd expect it's the writing that makes this book such a delight -- Claire Harman * Evening Standard *A beautifully written ode to the tenacity of our younger selves -- Francesca Brown * Stylist *

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Book Synopsis‘Barbara Pym is one of my most favourite novelists. Few other writers have given me more laughter and more pleasure’ - Jilly Cooper‘I'm a huge fan of Barbara Pym’ - Richard Osman‘Could one write a book based on one’s diaries over thirty years? I certainly have enough material,’ wroteBarbara Pym. This book, selected from the diaries, notebooks and letters of this much-loved novelist to form a continuous narrative, is indeed a unique autobiography, providing a privileged insight into a writer’s mind. It includes a forward from bestselling author – and Barbara Pym fan – Jilly Cooper.Philip Larkin wrote that Barbara Pym had ‘a unique eye and ear for the small poignancies of everyday life’. Her autobiography amply demonstrates this, as it traces her life from exuberant times at Oxford in the thirties, through the war when, scarred by an unhappy love affair, she joined the WRNS, to the published novelist of the fifties. It also deals with the long period when her novels were out of fashion and no one would publish them, her rediscovery in 1977, and the triumphant success of her last few years.It is now possible to describe a place, situation or person as ‘very Barbara Pym’. A Very Private Eye, at once funny and moving, shows the variety and depth of her own story.Praise for A Very Private Eye:‘It increases the understanding and enjoyment of her novels enormously’ - Auberon Waugh, Daily Mail‘The perfect complement to the fiction’ - Paul Bailey, The Observer‘Her sharp and very private eye never failed her’ Victoria Glendinning, The New York TimesTrade ReviewI’d sooner a new Barbara Pym than a new Jane Austen -- Philip LarkinBarbara Pym’s unpretentious, subtle, accomplished novels are for me the finest examples of high comedy to have appeared in England during the past seventy-five years . . . Spectacular * The Sunday Times *Barbara Pym has a sharp eye for the exact nuances of socialbehaviour * The Times *An alert miniaturist . . . Her novels have a distinctive flavour, as instantly recognisable as Lapsang tea * The Daily Telegraph *One does not laugh out loud while reading Barbara Pym; that would be too much. One smiles. One smiles and puts down the book to enjoy the smile. Then one picks it up again and a few minutes later an unexpected observation on human foibles makes one smile again -- Alexander McCall SmithMy favourite writer . . . I pick up her book with joy, as though I were meeting an old dear friend who comforts me, extends my vision and makes me roar with laughter -- Jilly CooperSo quintessentially English . . . If you read A Very Private Eye, you'll discover there all the quietly remarkable qualities that caused the publishing world to reverse itself about her * The New York Times *Barbara Pym is the rarest of treasures, she reminds us of the heart-breaking silliness of everyday life -- Anne TylerPym makes me smile, laugh out loud, consider my own foibles and fantasies and, above all, suffer real regret when I reach the final page -- Mavis Cheek

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Book Synopsis‘One of my favourite living writers: intelligent, lucid and, most impressive of all, funny’ - Jonathan CoeIf we’re talking agoraphobia, we’re talking books. I slip between their covers, lose myself in the turn of one page, re-discover myself on the next. Reading is a game of hide-and-seek. Narrative and neurosis, uneasy bedfellows sleeping top to toe.On Agoraphobia is a fascinating, entertaining and sometimes painfully acute look at what it means to go through life with an anxiety disorder that evades easy definition.When Graham Caveney was in his early twenties he began to suffer from what was eventually diagnosed as agoraphobia. What followed were decades of managing his condition and learning to live within the narrow limits it imposed on his life: no motorways, no dual carriageways, no shopping centres, limited time outdoors.Graham’s quest to understand his illness brought him back to his first love: books. From Harper Lee’s Boo Radley, Ford Madox Ford, Emily Dickinson, and Shirley Jackson: the literary world is replete with examples of agoraphobics – once you go looking for them.‘Intellectually curious, emotionally bracing and immensely erudite’ - Blake Morrison, The Guardian‘Captivating’ Richard BeardTrade ReviewNever less than completely absorbing, simply because [Caveney] is such a nimble, exact writer, able to move swiftly but unjarringly between daft jokes and serious reflections. * Telegraph *Intellectually curious, emotionally bracing and immensely erudite. . .bright and funny, and full of telling quotes. . .it will hearten people who have agoraphobia, enlighten medics and teach outsiders all the lessons Caveney has learned -- Blake Morrison * Guardian *A strange and many-headed work that melds personal experience with cultural criticism....thoughtful, humane and unjustly enjoyable * Sunday Times *One of my favourite living writers: intelligent, lucid and, most impressive of all, funny – even when he’s writing about the most difficult subjects. -- Jonathan CoeCaptivating . . . but also a book unscared of open white space, which feels like an act of defiance. For a book about agoraphobia it covers a huge amount of ground. -- Richard BeardGraham Caveney approaches the subject of agoraphobia diaristically, legally, and philosophically; he drinks about it, reads about it, has therapy about it, and assembles the long and fascinating history of its writers. -- Sarah MangusoA witty and engaging cultural history, and a frank and insightful memoir: On Agrophobia is original, smart and hugely entertaining -- David Nicholls

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Book SynopsisEdward St Aubyn's superbly acclaimed Melrose novels are Never Mind, Bad News, Some Hope, Mother's Milk (shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2006) and At Last. He is also the author of the novels A Clue to the Exit, On the Edge, Lost for Words and Dunbar.

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Book SynopsisGraham Greene''s ''long journey through time'' began in 1904, when he was born into a tribe of Greenes based in Berkhamstead at the public school where his father was headmaster. In A Sort of Life Greene recalls schooldays and Oxford, adolescent encounters with psychoanalysis and Russian roulette, his marriage and conversion to Catholicism, and how he rashly resigned from The Times when his first novel, The Man Within was published in 1929. A Sort of Life reveals, brilliantly and compellingly, a life lived and an art obsessed by ''the dangerous edge of things''.Trade ReviewA great writer who spoke brilliantly to a whole generation -- Alec GuinnessThe setting of his life is beautifully observed and conveyed. I have never admired his writing more - the masterly skill and economy; the excitement he manages to pump, not just into the narrative, but into the very sentences, which throb and glow themselves * Observer *A subversive hero, self-consciously seeking out (in Browning's words) 'the dangerous edge of things,' who lived everywhere and nowhere, a man whom few people ever knew... Greene was a restless traveler, a committed writer, a terrible husband, an appalling father and an admitted manic-depressive * New York Times *This is the work of a remarkable man determined to show he is not particularly remarkable...his fame is secure * Daily Telegraph *Greene wrote some of the most commanding English novels of the twentieth century and some of the slickest commercial thrillers * Newsday *

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Book SynopsisItalo Calvino once said that he preferred to give false details about his biography since he felt that even the genuine data of a writer''s life shed no light on the creative work. But this volume of posthumously collected personal writings is the closest we will ever come to the autobiography of this most private of writers. The pieces collected here range from the early 1950s to his last interview, completed just before his sudden death in 1985. Apart from providing a glimpse into his own formative experiences and evolution as an author, Calvino''s autobiographical writings also examine the major events of twentieth-century history from a very personal viewpoint. This volume is full of ideas on literature and other writers, all conveyed with the author''s distinctive lightness and intelligence.Italo Calvino, one of Italy''s finest postwar writers, has delighted readers around the world with his deceptively simple, fable-like stories. Calvino was born in Cuba in 1923 and ra

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Book Synopsis''This book is the record of a struggle between two temperaments, two consciences and almost two epochs.''Father and Son stands as one of English literature''s seminal autobiographies. In it Edmund Gosse recounts, with humour and pathos, his childhood as a member of a Victorian Protestant sect and his struggles to forge his own identity despite the loving control of his father. A key document of the crisis of faith and doubt; a penetrating exploration of the impact of evolutionary science; an astute, well-observed, and moving portrait of the tensions of family life: Father and Son remains a classic of twentieth-century literature.As well as an illuminating introduction, this edition also provides a series of fascinating appendices including extracts from Philip Gosse''s Omphalos and his harrowing account of his wife''s death from breast cancer. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World''s Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each aff

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Book SynopsisThe young naturalist W. N. P. Barbellion described this remarkably candid record of living with multiple sclerosis as ''a study in the nude''. It begins as an ambitious teenager''s notes on the natural world, and then, following his diagnosis at the age of twenty-six, transforms into a deeply moving account of battling the disease. His prose is full of humour and fierce intelligence, and combines a passion for life with clear-sighted reflections on the nature of death. Barbellion selected and edited this manuscript himself in 1917, adding a fictional editor''s note announcing his own demise. This Penguin Classics edition includes ''The Last Diary'', which covers the period between submission of the manuscript and Barbellion''s actual death in 1919.Trade ReviewHis work has permanent value -- Arnold Bennett Letter to Barbellion's widow Among the most moving diaries ever created -- Ronald Blythe Each Returning Day: The Pleasure of Diaries A furious, sometimes ecstatic, volatile little book -- William Atkins Guardian His is the greatest diary a man has written -- Thomas Mallon A Book of One's Own: People and Their Diaries As great in its own right as anything which James Joyce was to write -- James Mildren Western Morning News

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Book Synopsis''Like nothing else you will read'' Hilary MantelTop 25 History Books of the Year, The Times - the perfect gift for book lovers this Christmas!Every day a beloved father dies. Every day a lover departs. Every day a woman turns forty.All three happening together brings a moment of reckoning.Medieval historian Elizabeth Boyle made sense of these events the best way she knew how - by immersing herself in the literature that has been her first love and life''s work for over two decades.Fierce Appetites is the exhilarating and deeply humane result. Not only does Elizabeth Boyle write dazzling accounts of ancient stories, familiar and obscure, from Ireland and further afield, but she uses her historical learning to grapple with the raw and urgent questions she faces, questions that have bedevilled people in every age. She writes on grief, addiction, family breakdown, the complexities of motherhood, love and sex, memorTrade ReviewA book of blazing honesty that allows all the gorgeous complexity of the past into our messy present to remind us we've always been like this -- Max PorterReally REALLY good -- Siobhán McSweeneyBoyle has the skill to move us between the raw and the refined, the mind and the body, the past and the present, the mundane and the marvellous without ever losing control of her dark materials -- Fintan O'TooleAn astounding piece of writing -- David PerryJust as brilliant and hard to define as everyone says it is. You should read it. You will both learn things and be entertained -- Jan CarsonAn eloquent plea for the value of curiosity and the life of the mind, standing up the robustness of scholarship against the frailty of individuals, the resilience of myth against brittle daily preoccupations. It's an agile story, irreverent, capacious and constantly surprising: like nothing else you will read -- Hilary MantelPure nectar for the imagination, and it's my book of 2022 -- Clodagh Finn * Irish Examiner *Bracingly honest, fiery, funny, scholarly, Fierce Appetites really is a wildly good book -- Hilary FanninI just love it -- John ConnollyUnusual, arresting and genuinely enriching -- Sharon Arbuthnot * Irish Times *Highly original . . . engagingly candid [and] thought-provoking -- Martina Devlin * Irish Independent *I loved this luminous, radical book about bodies in time. It is a deeply personal history, that simultaneously brings medieval myth and poetry to breathing, bleeding life. An education for the mind and the heart -- Clare PollardFiercely smart, strange, surprising -- Jennifer O'Connell * Irish Times *Extremely intriguing . . . I found myself completely absorbed. Fascinating -- Ryan TubridyEverything is illuminated, magnified, revisioned: sexual desire, motherhood, family. Her writing is unorthodox, unnerving, and very exciting -- Tanya Shadrick, author of The Cure for SleepAn outstanding achievement. Fierce Appetites defies easy categorization, is brilliantly written and simply deserves to be read -- Darach Ó SéaghdhaI absolutely loved this utterly original book. Immersing myself in Elizabeth Boyle's considerable brain was a true privilege, and the way she uses medieval narratives to unpick her own present was endlessly surprising and beautiful. I read it in two sittings, devouring her perspective on life, love, loss -- Clover Stroud[A] marvellous, astonishing, funny, moving, wise, reflective, deeply scholarly, fascinating book -- Aidan O'SullivanAll twelve essays are freighted with that fierceness the title trumpets * RTÉ Guide *This book is extraordinary . . . a wonderful work of women's memoir -- Sinéad Crowley

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Book SynopsisAn invaluable companion for any writer seeking to make the writing life a more complex and cooperative ventureTrade Review“A small collection of illuminating, deeply endearing essays about the writing life.”—Ron Charles, Washington Post“Slender and rewarding, this essay collection finds the American poet embracing the mysteries of his craft, rather than striving to explain them away.”—Hephzibah Anderson, The Observer“Phillips’s poetry has a coiled elegance of syntax; his distinctive prose shares some of this tension as he grapples with the aesthetic and ethical challenges of his trade” —Rachel Hands, Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year 2023 “If this book was only for poets and writers, it would still be a wonder. But here, Phillips has revealed a map for why and how to pursue anything loved, as welcoming to someone honing a jump shot as a sentence, relevant to the poet and postal worker. More than a craft book, it is a reminder of the restlessness and recklessness that call many of us to keep doing the things we’re drawn to. A book equally rich for the seasoned writer as the novice, and one whose insight will call you to it, again and again.”—Reginald Dwayne Betts“These meditations are simply extraordinary. With abiding care for the mysteries of creation, bracing wisdom, and fierce honesty, Carl Phillips moves us all closer to ‘the native language of the interior self.’”—Lia Purpura“How I love the elusive textures of this book. Blurring essay and craft lecture, riff and reflection, My Trade Is Mystery is less a how-to than a meditation on the art. Writing is, first and foremost, a matter of being present, and here, Phillips brings a career’s attention to the subject, not instructing so much as engaging, asking the necessary questions about how to live a life in art.”—David L. Ulin

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Book SynopsisJonathan Raban was the author of over a dozen books, both fiction and non-fiction, including Passage to Juneau, Bad Land, Hunting Mister Heartbreak, Coasting, Old Glory, Arabia, Soft City, Waxwings and Surveillance.Over the span of six decades, he won the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Royal Society of Literature's Heinemann Award, the Thomas Cook Award, the PEN West Creative Nonfiction Award, the Pacific Northwest Booksellers' Award, and the Governor's Award of the State of Washington. His work appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Harpers, The New York Review of Books, Outside, Atlantic Monthly, New Republic, The London Review of Books, and other magazines.In 1990 Raban, a British citizen, moved from London to Seattle, where he lived with his daughter until his death in 2023.Trade Review[Jonathan Raban] is a master, as he has shown in his legendary travel writing, of summoning place and people with vivid economy . . . Father and Son is an exquisite, sometimes lunatic tension between powerful emotions and carnage on one side, and on the other, the conventional codes of what must remain unsaid. This . . . is a gorgeous achievement.” -- Ian McEwanBlessed with a lyrical, flowing style . . . Raban was noted for his pitch-perfect ear for dialogue and flights of the imagination, but also for evocative powers and sardonic humour. He is frequently melancholic and meditative, but his distinct writing is characterised by precision and clarity. * Irish Times *Father and Son is a fine achievement, a wide-ranging and compelling account with the author's hallmarks of intelligence, erudition, humour and honesty * Times Literary Supplement *Any book, [Raban] thought, should roam as freely as it likes and this final volume is an illustration of that . . . and that’s what makes his memoir so lively, even when it stares death in the face. -- Blake Morrison * Guardian *Everything that’s matchless about Raban’s work — his hyperacute eye for detail, his powers of synthesis, his mordant sense of humor, his vast reservoirs of knowledge and his love of travel — is there. * Los Angeles Times *Father and Son is a deeply moving career capstone . . . Raban's finest and most moving book . . . It is poignant and crushing . . . I wept. * The Washington Post *Reading his father's wartime letters changed how Jonathan Raban understood their relationship. A stroke changed how he understood himself . . . As full of eloquence as it is free of sentimentality, [this] memoir is a parting gift from a figure of insight and fierce independence... the pages turn quickly because the lines are so raw. * The Wall Street Journal *[Jonathan Raban] was the kind of writer we don't have in quantity . . . It's our luck that he left this lively and bittersweet memoir behind . . . We find ourselves inside the mind of an outraged, indefatigable commentator on life . . . Every writing day, he asked himself two questions: 'What have I lost?' and 'Am I fooling myself?' . . . [The] result of his labors makes the responses clear: a) very little, and b) no.Blessed with a lyrical flowing style, Jonathan Raban . . . was noted for his pitch-perfect ear for dialogue and flights of the imagination, but also for evocative powers and sardonic humour. . . A quixotic and nomadic seafaring writer, Raban was fascinated by the lives of the people he met . . . [In] his posthumous memoir . . . his thought-provoking approach, with trademark whimsy, illustrates his watchful eye. * The Irish Times *Raban’s posthumously published final work follows an English father and son whose lives take diverging paths . . . The war chapters, which excerpt correspondence between Raban’s parents, are compelling, but it is Raban’s reckoning with his own frailty that carries the emotional weight of the book. * The New Yorker *Jonathan Raban, who died earlier this year, left this memoir almost complete. It tells two stories, artfully braided . . . [and] with Raban’s interpolations, the Anzio pages [about his father] read like a military thriller....He was a master of close observation and wry self-deprecation, and had a cameraman’s ability to switch to a wide-angle lens in a heartbeat. * The Spectator *The late travel writer and novelist’s study of his dad . . . offers a beautifully written portrait rather than judgment. * The Observer *[Raban's] keen observational eye, wry sense of humor, and brilliant ability to prise apart the nonsense and find the tiny seed of truth at the heart of any situation were unique among his peers. -- Paul Constant * Seattle Times *

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Book SynopsisThese fascinating letters between Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby tell the story of an extraordinary friendship.''A beautiful collection'' Daisy Dunn, Sunday Times''Completely fascinating'' Rachel Cooke, Observer''Lively, perceptive and immaculately edited'' Miranda Seymour, Literary Review''A moving, unvarnished chronicle of intellectual comradeship'' Sarah Watling, Telegraph A literary relationship that began when the women met at Somerville College, Oxford, in 1919, it lasted until Winifred''s early death at the age of thirty-seven. The letters, written from 1920 to 1935, kept them ''continuously together'', and show us the life of two pioneers who wished to make their mark as writers and campaigners. Each encouraged and advised the other. However, there were periods when they were literary rivals. Winifred landed a book deal first; Vera produced an international bestselleTrade ReviewFascinatingly, these letters also overturn the sentimental clichés about their relationship * The Oldie *This volume offers a window on an intriguing relationship... [It] delivers Winifred Holtby back into Vera Brittain's ineluctable embrace -- Claudia FitzHerbert * Spectator *The Showalters offer an astute and sympathetic reading of the two women's dynamic, and the result is a moving, unvarnished chronicle of intellectual comradeship -- Sarah Watling * Telegraph *[A] lively, perceptive and immaculately edited selection from the extensive correspondence between Vera Brittain and Winifred Holtby... There are many stand-out moments in this engrossing correspondence... The Showalters have triumphantly succeeded in reminding us how fortunate Vera Brittain was to forge a friendship with such a joyous, clear-sighted and selfless individual -- Miranda Seymour * Literary Review *A beautiful collection... The care with which the letters have been selected and introduced becomes increasingly clear as the pages roll on -- Daisy Dunn * Sunday Times *I found these letters completely fascinating... the relationship at their centre is endlessly intriguing, and when these young women outline their burgeoning ideas about their careers, marriage, happiness and freedom, it's touching and inspiring -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *Expertly and sensitively edited by Elaine and English Showalter... The authors' intense bond is wonderfully captured... what comes through is a true partnership of two women valiantly, imperfectly, trying to find new ways to live -- Samantha Ellis * Guardian *

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Book Synopsis''An unknown place.'' This was what Michael Frayn''s children called the shadowy landscape of the past from which their family had emerged. Shortlisted for the Costa Book Awards, My Father''s Fortune sets out to rediscover that lost land before all trace of it finally disappears beyond recall. As Frayn tries to see it through the eyes of his parents and the others who shaped his life, he comes to realise how little he ever knew or understood about them.This is above all the story of his father, the quick-witted boy from a poor and struggling family, who overcame disadvantages and shouldered many burdens to make a go of his life; who found happiness, had it snatched away from him, and in the end, after many difficulties, perhaps found it again.Father and son were in some ways incredibly alike, in others ridiculously different; and the journey back down the corridors of time is sometimes comic, sometimes painful, as Michael Frayn comes to see how much he has inh

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Book SynopsisV. S. Naipaul was born in Trinidad in 1932. He came to England on a scholarship in 1950. He spent four years at University College, Oxford, and began to write, in London, in 1954. He pursued no other profession.His novels include A House for Mr Biswas, The Mimic Men, Guerrillas, A Bend in the River, and The Enigma of Arrival. In 1971 he was awarded the Booker Prize for In a Free State. His works of nonfiction, equally acclaimed, include Among the Believers, Beyond Belief, The Masque of Africa, and a trio of books about India: An Area of Darkness, India: A Wounded Civilization and India: A Million Mutinies Now.In 1990, V. S. Naipaul received a knighthood for services to literature; in 1993, he was the first recipient of the David Cohen British Literature Prize. He received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2001. He lived with his wife Nadira and cat Augustus in Wiltshire, and died in 20

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Book SynopsisOn childhood holidays to the western coast, Tim Winton’s days followed a joyous rhythm. In the mornings, the sun and surf kept him outside, in the water. In the afternoons, as the horizon wobbled with mirages and the wind came in from the ocean, he was driven inside, to books. In the ‘simple, peculiar shack’ that his family borrowed each year there was a small library: a room with four walls of books, a world unto itself.Land's Edge: A Coastal Memoir is a beautiful delicate memoir in which Winton writes about his obsession with what happens where the water meets the shore - about diving, dunes, beachcombing - and the sense of being on the precarious, wondrous edge of things that haunts his novels. It is a book about the ebb and flow that became a way of life, and that shaped one of our finest writers. ‘Both a serial romantic and a truly gifted novelist’ - Mariella Frostrup, Mail on Sunday.Trade ReviewWinton's exhilarated eulogy to a life lived from boyhood to manhood by and on the beach . . . Imagine the ideal short memoir of a perfect long day lived between land, sky and sea; this is as good as it gets. * The Times *Wonderfully stirring . . . The great pleasure of Land's Edge is not just the dissection of his own love of the sea but also the flint-sharp evocation: he can fill your nostrils with the salty breeze. . . His is a book to read and reread . . . its reflections are beautiful, urgent and filled with awe. * Mail on Sunday *The beach, the "verandah" at the edge of the continent, is half-fantasy, half-horror story. Winton is brilliant at exploring this ambiguity . . . I gobbled up this short but shimmering book in one windswept afternoon. * Independent *A timeless meditation on place and the intimate affirmation of a writer's life lived on his own terms. * Time *In this slim, poetic memoir, Winton picks apart his lifelong attraction to the ocean . . . compelling . . . the ocean's twin allure of fear and freedom is what Winton captures so well. * Sunday Times *A lovely and gently humorous book' * Daily Mail *Winton grew up on Australia's west coast . . . He has been in love with the ocean ever since and writes about it with an almost religious reverence . . . Land's Edge will help Winton fans understand how the ocean dominates his imaginative world. * Observer *What really makes Winton stand out amongst his peers is the diamond-tipped precision of his descriptive writing, and in Land's Edge we get a gloriously concentrated dose of it . . . there's a passage about diving with eight-metre sharks that fairly takes the breath away' * Scotsman *A lovely, lyrical memoir * The Times *Tim Winton's swirling prose mirrors his giddy fascination with the sea . . . the book basks in the hear and dreamy haze of life on the coast of Western Australia. * Big Issue in the North *A masterful memoir that evokes the power of the sea to ease anxieties and kick-start joyfulness . . . universal and timeless. * Coast *

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of The World and All That It Holds, Aleksandar Hemon's The Book of My Lives is an unforgettable memoir of a life forever marked by international conflict.Aleksandar Hemon grew up in a blissful Sarajevo, where his childhood was consumed by football, his adolescence by friends, movies and girls and where, as a young man, he poked at the pretensions of his beloved city with American music, bad poetry, and slightly better journalism.And then, at twenty-seven, Hemon flew to Chicago for a month-long visit. A matter of weeks later Sarajevo was engulfed in an atrocious war. Hemon found himself an exile. He wouldn’t return home for five years and, when he did, he found his city irrevocably changed.‘If you’ve never read Aleksandar Hemon, prepare to have your worldview deepened’ – Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly CloseTrade ReviewAleksandar Hemon is, quite frankly, the greatest writer of our generation. His literature is deep, agile, funny, graceful, searing, angry, raw, questioning. It is of present and eternal use . . . This is a book – like all of Aleksandar Hemon’s books – that is an aria for our times. I will cherish it. -- Colum McCann, author of Let the Great World SpinThe Book of My Lives is written with the full force of humanity. It will make you think, laugh, cry, and remember yourself. If you’ve never read Aleksandar Hemon, prepare to have your worldview deepened. -- Jonathan Safran Foer, author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly CloseThe essays in The Book of My Lives are about the meaning of home. Spacious and full-hearted . . . the last chapters break ground where fiction has no place . . . Confessional yet honourably restrained, these pages promise to be unforgettable -- Mark Thompson * Independent *Hemon’s work crackles with so much humor and irony, so much compassion and humanity, that The Book of My Lives’ true calling almost goes by unnoticed: it is, without doubt, the most necessary, intimate and heartbreaking portrait of a world lost to one of history’s darkest conflicts. -- Téa Obreht, author of The Tiger’s WifeWe find this . . . beautifully, horrible resolve in The Book of My Lives, the first collection of nonfiction by MacArthur "genius" grant-winning writer Aleksandar Hemon * Baltimore City Paper *Hemon chronicles with defining intensity, rueful self-critique, and piquant humor indelible revelations personal, cultural, and political. He is passionate . . . writes with deft force, piercing observation, and commanding candor about the individual's place within life's web and the horrors and beauty of the human condition * Booklist *In happiness there is alienation, and in sadness there is humor. Combined with Hemon's mad storytelling skills, The Book of My Lives is a powerful collection. * Boswell Book Company *Aleksandar Hemon has been telling critically acclaimed stories for years . . . In his latest collection, The Book of My Lives, he tells his own stories . . . in such a way that it could take its place on the shelf of great Chicago literature . . . The universal truths found in his memoir feel all the more powerful for being grounded in his own, sometimes painfully real, life. * Chicago Tribune *Hemon manages to write about his own younger days in a way that makes them both uniquely his own, but also universal . . . [Hemon] evokes a magical city of random gorgeous images and events . . . Hemon is engaging and interesting company, and the story of his life - or lives - is one worth telling. * Christian Science Monitor *I'm not quite sure Aleksandar Hemon counts as an American writer, but he is one of my favorite American writers. Before The Book of My Lives, I never really thought of him as a nonfiction person, but this new book - a memoir in essays - has some of his best writing. When Hemon's work is funny, it can make you laugh in spite of everything, and when it is sad, it's hard to stand up afterward -- John Jeremiah Sullivan, author of PulpheadIncandescent. When your eyes close, the power of Hemon's colossal talent remains -- Junot Díaz, author of This is How You Lose HerAn acclaimed novelist - winner of a MacArthur Foundation genius grant and finalist for the National Book Award - returns with an affecting memoir about his youth in Sarajevo and his escape and adjustment to the West . . . The chapters, in fact, could in many ways stand alone. But their cumulative emotional power - accelerated by a wrenching final section about the grievous illness of his younger daughter - eventually all but overwhelms. Amuses, informs and inspires - then, finally, rips open the heart. * Kirkus Reviews *It's at once unimaginable and unforgettable . . . With Hemon, says the writer Jonathan Lethem, 'above all and no matter the topic or register, it's the voice -- that glowering intelligence pulsing behind a truly glittering surface . . .' * Time *Aleksandar Hemon . . . is often praised for his inventive use of language . . . he can articulate what he likes with equal passion and precision . . . These events of his lives are by turns funny, intense, poignant and sad - in other words, great memoir material . . . Hemon is a virtuoso linguist, maker of gorgeous sentences and arguably the best writer to currently call Chicago home. * Time Out Chicago *Literary badass Aleksandar Hemon . . . is known for biting irony, humor, and humanity in his novels and stories . . . The rawness of those elements also rings through his first book of nonfiction, The Book of My Lives. * Village Voice *A deft, playful, poignant and powerful look at the novelist's life, in Yugoslavia and New York -- Books of the Year * Sunday Times *

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Book SynopsisHunter Davies’ childhood lived amongst the post-war dirt and grime of Carlisle was immediately hailed as a classic memoir from one of Britain’s foremost columnists of the past half century. The Co-op’s Got Bananas! left our protagonist at the cusp of working for one of the world’s greatest newspapers – The Sunday Times. In this much-anticipated sequel, Hunter now looks back across five decades of successful writing to reflect on his colourful memories of the living in London during the height of the Swinging Sixties, becoming editor of Britain’s first colour weekend supplement The Sunday Times magazine; befriending the Beatles; and interviewing (and partying with) the biggest names in television, film and theatre of the day.   Hunter brings the story full circle to reflect on his years spent with the love of his life – the bestselling writer Margaret Forster, who sadly passed away in February 2016. This will

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Book Synopsis‘Dazzlingly and daringly written’ Rachel Cooke, ObserverW-3 is a small psychiatric ward in a large university hospital, a world of pills and passes dispensed by an all-powerful staff, a world of veteran patients with grab-bags of tricks, a world of dishevelled, moment-to-moment existence on the edge of permanence.Bette Howland was one of those patients. In 1968, Howland was thirty-one, a single mother of two young sons, struggling to support her family on the part-time salary of a librarian; and labouring day and night at her typewriter to be a writer. One afternoon, while staying at her friend Saul Bellow’s apartment, she swallowed a bottle of pills.W-3 is a vivid – and often surprisingly funny – portrait of the extraordinary community of Ward 3 and a record of a defining moment in a writer’s life. The book itself would be her salvation: she wrote herself out of the grave.Originally published in 1974 and rediscovered forty years later, this is the first edition of W-3 to be published in the UK. With an original introduction by Yiyun Li, author of Where Reasons End.‘W-3 is one hell of a debut’ Lucy Scholes, Paris Review‘Howland is finally getting the recognition that she deserves’ Sarah Hughes, iNewsTrade ReviewThe voice is cool and the gaze is clear . . . a startlingly frank account of mental illness, and the contradictions and humiliations of life as a patient . . . akin to a fly-on-the-wall documentary. -- Martha Gill * The Times *A writer of terrifying power, who sees and hears everything . . . Not only is this a sane memoir of madness but it may well be the sanest, most mordant take on the subject I have ever read. -- Frances Wilson * Daily Telegraph *Her memoir, clear-eyed, with an anthropological, sociological distance, is a brilliant attempt to document life on the ward with clinical detachment . . . a wonder. Her prose is direct, unadorned, under-stated. -- Arnold Thomas Fanning * Irish Times *At moments dazzlingly and daringly written . . . Its author captures quite brilliantly the comical competitiveness of her fellow patients – who’s the maddest here? they ask, each one hoping to claim victory . . . and she is excellent, too, at delineating what we might call the secret life of the institution. The patients exist for the hospital’s sake, rather than the other way around. -- Rachel Cooke * Observer *A devastating memoir . . . Reading it now, what stands out is how bracingly modern it feels – Howland’s sharp portraits of her fellow patients, the unsparing eye she turns on herself, her refusal to look away from daily humiliations . . . Howland is finally getting the recognition that she deserves. -- Sarah Hughes * iNews *There’s no more interesting tale of neglect and rediscovery than that of Bette Howland . . . W-3 is one hell of a debut . . . It offers us a portal to a particular time and place, yet the compassion and truthfulness that underlies the writing renders it timeless, as urgent a read now as when it was first written nearly half a century ago. -- Lucy Scholes * Paris Review *A cool, brief memoir of her stay on a psychiatric ward after a suicide attempt in the early 1970s. -- Daily Telegraph Best Biographies of the YearFull of calibrated grace, and startlingly unmediated . . . [W-3] is remarkably perceptive and wise -- Katy Waldman * New Yorker *A story about her neighbor’s heart, not her own—an anthology of the lives she encounters in the ward known as W-3. [Howland tells] the story of a collective with blunt clarity, and sidestepping the genre’s potential for sentimentality or sensationalism. She brings the particularities of the world to life -- Parul Sehgal * New York Times *I was much moved by W-3. It is admirably straight and thoughtful, tough-minded but full of powerful feeling. The patients of W-3, black and white, men and women, dizzy, endearing, suicidal, doomed, come to us from these pages not as case studies but as our own brothers and sisters. No poses are struck and no vain gestures made in this brave and honorable book. Bette Howland is a real writer. -- Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize winning author of Seize the DayIn an earlier book, W-3, the moving and heroically funny account of Miss Howland's stay in the psychiatric ward of a university hospital after she had swallowed a fistful of sleeping pills, her tough and resilient personality brought a remarkably clearheaded way of seeing and knowing to that chaotic refuge of the dispossessed. * The New York Times *Bette Howland is at her best when her keenly observing eye is turned outward. Watching, always watching, she misses nothing, grasps everything, and puts it all together with an originality and cogency that are rare and memorable . . . she writes as if she were a participant-observer, a novelist-anthropologist in a strange, often perplexing new place. -- Johanna Kaplan * Commentary *W-3 is a portrayal of mental illness like none other. More claustrophobic than Girl, Interrupted and more frightening than The Bell Jar, Howland’s memoir maps the world of a 1970s psychiatric ward with an unflinching eye. -- Esmé Weijun Wang, author of The Collected SchizophreniasHowland tracks our madnesses and oddnesses . . . Her work lies in a borderland between sociology and poetry -- Abigail Deutsch * Harper’s Magazine *[Her] sentences continue to beat with a stylish percussion and a glowing heart -- Donna Rifkind * Wall Street Journal *Howland’s powers of observation are like military-grade weapons. * University of Chicago Magazine *In W-3, Bette Howland continues to help us re-imagine the depth and breadth of humanity that a single book can contain, not only in her willingness to portray the vicissitudes of her own experience, but to observe, to empathize, to listen to and take such care with the individuals she encounters along the way. -- Lynn Steger Strong, author of WantAmong the many chronicles of depression and psych wards, Howland’s is uniquely arresting in its omniscient attention, radiant artistry, zealously pursued insights, and abiding respect for those who share her struggle. -- Donna SeamanBette Howland wrote a book I thought was impossible to write. -- Yiyun LiA master of silences, of the unsaid, of what cannot be addressed -- Jenessa Abrams * Guernica *With its incisive humor and unsparing descriptions, W-3 refuses a tidy resolution, instead showing how all the 'clumsy, good intentions' in the world can't always provide a cure for the horror and tedium of losing one's mind. * Minneapolis Star Tribune *A gallery of marvelously, devastatingly precise miniatures of Howland’s fellow inmates. Howland’s eye for detail is unfailingly sharp. She has the cartoonist’s knack of seizing and drawing out a person’s specific mannerisms and fixations, but what results is never caricature; rather, her depiction of the patients of W-3 is sensitive and sympathetic but powerfully unsentimental. -- Sarah Chihaya * Bookforum *Whether you call it fiction or memoir, essay or reportage, Howland’s work manages to feel both rooted in its twentieth century milieu and absolutely at home among today’s genre-agnostic writing. -- Laurie Muchnick * Kirkus *No pride or showing-off here; the craft lies in restraint, in what T. S. Eliot calls “a continual self-sacrifice, a continual extinction of personality” . . . Howland’s writerly carpentry—measure twice, cut once—is exquisite. -- Anthony Domestico * Commonweal *Howland's thwarted career is our loss: at her best she is very good. -- Tessa Hadley * LRB *Throughout the book, we rub shoulders with the chatty and the speechless, the erratic and the withdrawn; those sedated by the system and those at the doors begging to be let out . . . Bette Howland’s work will, and should be, read and rediscovered time and time again. * Reaction *

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Book SynopsisThe world’s oldest still-active war correspondent, Al J. Venter has reported from the front lines for well over half a century, witnessing the horrors humanity visits upon itself in twenty-five conflict zones across Africa, the Middle East, and Central Asia. In this memoir, Venter masterfully recounts his experiences, sharing the real stories behind the headlines and the sharp lessons he learned that enabled him to survive his countless exploits, ranging from exposing a major KGB operative in Rhodesia entirely by accident, and accompanying an Israeli force led by Ariel Sharon into Beirut, to gun-running into the United States.Table of ContentsForeword Prologue 1 Africa, the great continent with an appeal all its own 2 Home by five 3 Heading out into the unknown 4 Africa in the 1960s 5 Matilda and Albert Schweitzer’s jungle hospital 6 Palm wine and plantain in Libreville 7 Nigeria: ‘Crazy, but I love it!’ 8 A peripatetic existence 9 Rib-eye and red wine in Abidjan 10 Kids with machine guns 11 Republic of Guinea to London 12 The Londoner: my dream of a ship 13 Looking for wars and learning to write 14 A bloody battle and a narrow escape in Lagos 15 Another close call 16 Getting the job properly done 17 Independence and revolutions 18 The safari capital of the world 19 Banned from Rhodesia 20 Pen-pushing pals 21 All’s fair in love and war 22 My favourite: the realm of the underwater 23 Mayday … Mayday … Mayday 24 Lisbon: beloved city 25 You’d be lucky to be hit … 26 South Africa invades Angola 27 Battle for Beirut 28 The murder of a United States Marine colonel in Lebanon’s civil war

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Book SynopsisFor decades, Janet Malcolm's books and dispatches for the New Yorker have poked and prodded at biographical convention, gesturing towards the artifice that underpins both public and private selves. Here, Malcolm turns her gimlet eye on her own life, examining twelve family photographs to construct a memoir from camera-caught moments, each of which pose questions of their own. She begins with the picture of a morose young girl on a train, leaving Prague at the age of five in 1939. From there we follow her to the Czech enclave of Yorkville in Manhattan, where her father, a psychiatrist and neurologist, and her mother, an attorney from a bourgeois family, traded their bohemian, Dada-inflected lives for the ambitions of middle-class America. From her early, fitful loves to evenings at the old Metropolitan Opera House to her fascination with what it might mean to be a "bad girl," Malcolm assembles a composite portrait of a New York childhood, one that never escaped the tug of Europe and the mysteries of fate and family. Later, Malcolm delves into her marriage to Gardner Botsford, the world of William Shawn's New Yorker, and the libel trial that led her to become a character in her own drama. Displaying the sharp wit and astute commentary that are Malcolmian trademarks, this brief volume develops into a memoir like no other.Trade ReviewStill Pictures is [an] eclectic but carefully crafted work of montage... What emerges is fascinating... it's a bittersweet reminder of Malcolm's extraordinary talents * Telegraph *Playful, subversive and engrossing... Malcolm belongs to a subtler class of superhero, a ninja perhaps, whose idiosyncratic oeuvre will be knocking delighted readers off their feet for a long time to come * Sunday Times *She writes fascinatingly... Malcolm's charm in Still Pictures comprises, for me... an absolute refusal to pose - and it's this that makes the book worth reading * Observer *Like the bulk of her life's work, at its heart is an inquiry into the elusiveness of truth. Although it may be her in the viewfinder, the real subject is the unreliability of the camera * Financial Times *Funny and true... I have now realised why I recommend her to young writers... because that's what I want to read -- David Aaronovitch * The Times *As a memoirist, Malcolm comes clean about her gaps in memory and her lapses in judgment... The book's most charming moments are when the incisive, unsparing adult can be found in the child * Economist *Janet Malcolm, who died in 2021, was one of her generation's great practitioners - one might say agitators - of journalism and biography... Far from a nostalgiafest, it is like a family album annotated to an unusually high intellectual standard * Spectator *[A] witty memoir of her youth... the book's episodic narrative is addictive... this memoir will make you think about your own family's internal myths * Irish Times *Malcolm found a playful and unpretentious way to write about her own life ... shot through with her unerring sense of the absurd * TLS *This slim volume is as satisfying as many a fuller Life * New Statesman *It's a touching memoir which reminds us of the importance of family photography and the role it can play in our loves, memories and recollections throughout our life. * Amateur Photographer Magazine *

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Book SynopsisDiscover one of Twentieth-Century Russia's most lauded lost classics, now in a remarkable new translation.'Outstanding... A sparkling, supremely precious literary achievement' Telegraph'One of the great Russian autobiographies, as fresh now as the day it was written - and the day it was lived' Julian BarnesIn 1943, Konstantin Paustovsky, the Soviet Union's most revered author, started out on his masterwork - The Story of a Life; a grand, novelistic memoir of a life lived on the fast-unfurling frontiers of Russian history. Eventually published over six volumes, it would cement Paustovsky's reputation as the voice of Russia around the world, and see him nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature.Taking its reader from Paustovsky's Ukrainian youth, struggling with a family on the verge of collapse and the first flourishes of creative ambition, to his experiences working as a paramedic on Russia's frontlines and then as a journalist covering the country's violent spiral into revolution, The Story of a Life offers a portrait of an artistic journey like no other.Trade ReviewOne of the great Russian autobiographies, as fresh now as the day it was written - and the day it was lived -- Julian BarnesOutstanding... A sparkling, supremely precious literary achievement * Telegraph *The Story of a Life radiates a terrific vim and thirst for experience. A more gloriously life-affirming book is unlikely to emerge this year. -- Ian Thompson * Spectator *Beautifully translated, these volumes are a uniquely rich and moving account of events that continue to haunt us to this day -- Mark Mazower * Financial Times *A 20th-century masterpiece * Daily Telegraph, *Summer Reads of 2022* *A literary masterpiece.... This is not the cracker-barrel blandness of some professional sage, as so often in America's ghost-written memoirs, but a wisdom of tragic insight and of hard-earned integrity * Saturday Review *

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Book SynopsisIncludes an exciting sneak peek extract from Three Sisters - the conclusion to The Tattooist of Auschwitz Trilogy. Available now. The Tattooist of Auschwitz is one of the bestselling books of the 21st Century. Now, in this essential companion, Heather Morris presents an inspiring manual for life, with a series of tales of the remarkable people she has met, the incredible stories they have shared with her, and the lessons they hold for us all. In Stories of Hope, Heather will explore her extraordinary talents as a listener - a skill she employed when she first met Lale Sokolov, the tattooist at Auschwitz-Birkenau and the inspiration for her bestselling novel. It was this ability that led Lale to entrust Heather with his story, which she told in her novel The Tattooist of Auschwitz and the bestselling follow up, Cilka's Journey. Now Heather shares the story behind her inspirational writing journey and the defining experiences of her life, including her profound friendship with Lale, and explores how she learned to really listen to the stories people told her - skills she believes we can all learn.'Stories are what connect us and remind us that hope is always possible.' Heather MorrisAn international phenomenon, The Tattooist of Auschwitz has sold over six million copies. Cilka's Journey has sold over a million copies worldwide.Trade ReviewA thoughtful and insightful exploration * Library Journal *Showcasing her talents as a listener, author of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, Heather Morris, here presents a series of tales. She presents the remarkable people she has met along her writing journey and the stories they shared with her. Additionally, Morris reveals more about her close friendship with Lale Sokolov, whose story she told, and the lessons we can take from those who open up to us. A wonderfully moving literary companion. * Woman & Home *In a heartfelt memoir, the author extols the act of listening as an expression of love and empathy . . . A celebration of human connection * Kirkus Review *In this exquisite work, novelist Morris makes an impassioned case for the value of spoken history . . . Weaving spectacular storytelling with wise advice, this underscores the beauty of slowing down in an age of distraction * Publishers’ Weekly *a sincere...moving attempt to speak the unspeakable * The Sunday Times on The Tattooist of Auschwitz *What an extraordinary and important book this is. We need as many memories of the Holocaust as we can retain, and this is a moving and ultimately uplifting story of love, loyalties and friendship amidst the horrors of war. I'm so glad Lale and Gita were eventually able to live long and happy lives together, and thankful that Heather Morris was moved to record their incredible story. It's a triumph -- Jill Mansell on The Tattooist of AuschwitzExtraordinary - moving, confronting and uplifting . . . a story about the extremes of human behaviour: calculated brutality alongside impulsive and selfless acts of love. I recommend it unreservedly. -- Graeme Simsion on The Tattooist of Auschwitza touching and redemptive tale of love and selflessness * Times Literary Supplement on The Tattooist of Auschwitz *Cilka's extraordinary courage in the face of evil and her determination to survive against the odds will stay with you long after you've finished reading this heartrending book * Sunday Express on Cilka's Journey *her courage and determination to survive makes for a heartrending read * Daily Mirror on Cilka's Journey *Her truly incredible story is one to be read by everyone * The Sun on Cilka's Journey *

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Book Synopsis'When I was a child in Scotland, I was fond of everything that was wild, and all my life I've been growing fonder and fonder of wild places and wild creatures.'John Muir was eleven when he and his family left Scotland in 1849 to build a new life on a homestead in the vast wilderness of Wisconsin. Written in simple yet beautiful prose, we see Muir's delight as he discovers and observes the landscape and wildlife around him, as he recalls his childhood and reveals himself as a master of natural description.Trade ReviewHis books are illuminated by sunshine and starlight . . . No other writer is so ceaselessly astonished by the natural world as Muir, or communicates that astonishment more urgently -- ROBERT MACFARLANEAn inspirational figure for modern environmentalism . . . his enthusiasm and heart-felt love of nature is immensely impressive * * Guardian * *Muir was a geologist, an explorer, philosopher, artist, author, and editor, and to each of his avocations he devoted that deep insight and conscientious devotion which made him its master * * New York Times * *The great mountain man . . . [John Muir] remains a towering presence in American cultural life, and is internationally acknowledged as one of the founding fathers of modern conservation -- MARK COCKER, author of OUR PLACEA superbly told, moving and challenging story. For anybody remotely interested in the environment, Scottish culture, American history, the art of biography or the art of life, this book is essential * * Scotland on Sunday * *The richness of Muir's writing roots deeper into the terrain than any other wilderness writer known to me * * Los Angeles Times on MY FIRST SUMMER IN THE SIERRA * *

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Book SynopsisAlice Carrière is a graduate of Columbia University. This is her first book. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee, and Amagansett, New York.

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Book Synopsis

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Book SynopsisJohn Hopkins brings back to life all the decadence and flamboyance of Tangier in the 1960s and 1970s. Tangier in the 1960s and â70s was a fabled place. This edge city, the 'Interzone', became muse and escapist's dream for artists, writers, millionaires and socialites, who wrote, painted, partied and experienced life with an intensity and freedom that they never could back home. Into this louche and cosmopolitan world came John Hopkins, a young writer who became a part of the bohemian Tangier crowd with its core of Beats that included William Burroughs, Paul and Jane Bowles and Brion Gysin, as well as Tennessee Williams, Jean Genet, Yves Saint Laurent, Barbara Hutton and Malcolm Forbes. Those intoxicating decades â Tangier's 'Golden Years' â are long gone. Grand old houses that once sparkled with life are shuttered and dark and most of the eccentrics who once lived and loved in the city have died. But here, in the pages of John Hopkins' cult classic, all the decadence and flamboyaTrade ReviewAn incomparable diarist. * Elle *[Hopkins] draws the reader into the daily life of what he describes as the “Saigon of the Sahara”, with tales of his encounters with the likes of William Burroughs, Malcolm Forbes, Wilfred Thesiger, Timothy Leary and Rudolf Nureyev [...] a chronicle of an era that has disappeared forever. * Independent on Sunday *All lovers of The Sheltering Sky will be grateful for this intimate record of Paul Bowles’s methods and opinions. -- Michael Arditti * Daily Mail *The Sixties are vividly described and we are plunged into the exotic world centred on writers Paul and Jane Bowles. A hit. -- Judy Cooke * Mail on Sunday *A grand read. -- Ephraim Hardcastle * Daily Mail *Morocco (especially Tangiers) was one of the places to be in the early ’60s. [...] Now it seems almost mythic, a great, outlandish American Bloomsbury. Hopkins delivers all the expected goodies and more: the requisite desert meditations, the kif-censed evenings in the kasbah, the celebrity sightings [...] a graceful, laconic stylist. * Kirkus Reviews *His diaries are crammed full of fine writing, warmly drawn recollections, and source material which will be used by historians so long as people want to read about the powerful confluence of cultures in collision which was Beat Tangier. -- Joe Ambrose * Outside Left *His beautiful diary is full of wonderful pen portraits of the many and various characters on display, vivid little street scenes and evocations of landscape [...] and personal stories. -- Jon May * The Generalist *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Introduction The Tangier Diaries, 1962–1979 Epilogue

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Book Synopsis''Britain''s greatest living nature writer'' The TimesRediscover the extraodinary power of nature and the British wilderness, from award-winning naturalist and author Richard MabeyIn the last year of the old millennium, Richard Mabey, Britain''s foremost nature writer, fell into a severe depression. The natural world which since childhood had been a source of joy and inspiration for him became meaningless. Then, cared for by friends, he moved to East Anglia and he started to write again. Having left the cosseting woods of the Chiltern hills for the open flatlands of Norfolk, Richard Mabey found exhilaration in discovering a whole new landscape and gained fresh insights into our place in nature. Structured as intricately as a novel, a joy to read, truthful, exquisite and questing, Nature Cure is a book of hope, not just for individuals, but for our species.''A brilliant, candid and heartfelt memoir...how he broTrade ReviewA brilliant, candid and heartfelt memoir...The account of how he broke free of depression, reshaped his life and reconnected with the wild becomes nothing short of a manifesto for living...Mabey's particular vision, informed by a lifetime's reading and observation, is ultimately optimistic. It is also what makes his voice so appealing amid all the froth and flam of the eco-debate -- Philip Marsden * Sunday Times *A book of which only he could have written a single page...marvellously observed, deeply felt from sentence to sentence. The writing is exquisite -- David Sexton, * Evening Standard *Subtle, devotional, poetic * Observer *Rich, invigorating and deeply restorative * Irish Times *Nature Cure moves between the nervous breakdown of an individual and the madness of the modern world with a prescience akin to that of T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land -- Jonathan Bate * Guardian *Mabey is a radical, inheritor of an old English tradition...The core of the book is his exploration of his new landscape. It feels a privilege to share it, watching him unpick the layers of watery Norfolk, with dazzling skill and the warmest of hearts, as his troubled mind heals -- Michael McCarthy * Independent *Written in the radiant, tingle-making prose that has earned Mabey literary prizes and a multitude of fans... both a wake-up call and an example of how the love of nature can electrify and heal the imagination. -- Val Hennessy * Daily Mail *An inspiring book -- Nicholas Bagnall * Sunday Telegraph *Britain's greatest living nature writer * The Times *

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Book Synopsis'Miss, who's that funny man at the back of the classroom? So begins school-inspector Gervase Phinn's second year among the frankly spoken pupils and teachers of North Yorkshire - the sight of Gervase with his notebook and pen provokes unexpected reactions from the children and adults alike.

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Book SynopsisAs editor and publisher, his work is unrelenting, commissioning works ranging from Michael Roberts's The Modern Mind to Elizabeth Bowen's anthology The Faber Book of Modern Stories.

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Book SynopsisA formally audacious and deeply moving memoir in three timeframes that confronts the defining trauma of the twentieth century, and its effects on a father and son. In 1939, Jonathan Lichtenstein’s father Hans escaped Nazi-occupied Berlin as a child refugee on the Kindertransport. Almost every member of his family died after Kristallnacht, and, arriving in England to make his way in the world alone, Hans turned his back on his German Jewish culture. Growing up in post-war rural Wales where the conflict was never spoken of, Jonathan and his siblings were at a loss to understand their father’s relentless drive and sometimes eccentric behaviour. As Hans enters old age, he and Jonathan set out to retrace his journey back to Berlin. Published to coincide with the eightieth anniversary, this is a highly compelling account of a father and son’s attempt to emerge from the shadows of history.For r

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Book SynopsisTrade Review"Finalist for the PEN/Diamonstein-Spielvogel Award for the Art of the Essay""One of Lit Hub's Most Anticipated Books of the Year""One of VULTURE'S 49 Books We Can't Wait to Read""A Choice Outstanding Academic Title of the Year""Wonderful. . . . Through language, we come to know ourselves: Lahiri’s work shows how it is always possible to expand that knowledge."---Erica Wagner, Harper’s Bazaar UK"[Lahiri’s] observations are as plentiful as they are enlightening."---Juliana Ukiomogbe, Elle"[In this book] a vision emerges of translation as a site where the physical and the textual, the extraordinary and the ordinary, intersect."---Polly Barton, Times Literary Supplement"[Lahiri] is excellent. . . . Translating Myself and Others is a reminder, no matter your relationship to translation, of how alive language itself can be. In her essays as in her fiction, Lahiri is a writer of great, quiet elegance; her sentences seem simple even when they're complex. Their beauty and clarity alone would be enough to wake readers up."---Lily Meyer, NPR"[Translating Myself and Others] is about the consequences of the apparently simple act of choosing one’s own words. . . . [The] book also contains a hope for the liberating power of language."---Benjamin Moser, New York Times"[A] series of passionate [and] thoughtful essays."---Frank Wynne, The Spectator"[Translating Myself and Others] movingly describes [Lahiri’s] history with translation from her experiences as an immigrant child . . . to her early literary-translation efforts and her eventual decision to move to Rome and learn Italian." * Vulture *"Poetic." * New York Magazine *"A wry collection."---Adam Rathe, Town & Country"[Lahiri’s] voice is a strong one in the current campaign to give translators more recognition. Her candidness about the hardships of translation and her enthusiasm for its rewards make you want to hear more from these fascinating figures, who spend so much time in others’ voices but have not lost the use of their own."---Camilla Bell-Davies, Financial Times"Digestible and approachable. . . . The thought-provoking collection makes for a sharp and luminous exploration of Lahiri’s relationship to language, translation, and literature and made me want to finally tackle my goal of learning a second language."---Jordan Snowden, Apartment Therapy"[A] memoir of the experience [of learning Italian], recounted with passion and insight."---Gregory Cowles, New York Times"Lahiri explores her relationship with literature, translation, and the English and Italian languages in this exhilarating collection. . . . Lucid and provocative, this is full of rewarding surprises." * Publishers Weekly, starred review *"A scrupulously honest and consistently thoughtful love letter to ‘the most intense form of reading…there is.'" * Kirkus Reviews, starred review *"The collection is singular for Lahiri’s ability to integrate the personal and the theoretical, drawing her examples from literature and from life. . . . Lahiri writes so beautifully that this collection will have broad appeal for anyone interested in literary essays."---David Azzolina, Library Journal"[An] absorbing new collection of essays. . . . Translating Myself and Others is a subtle yet ultimately engrossing work, somewhat academic at times, yet infused with the kind of understated, often startling capacity for observation that has always been Lahiri’s literary superpower." * Bookpage *"Translating Myself and Others is a thought-provoking collection of essays about the art of modern translation." * Foreword Reviews *"Anyone interested in the art of translation will be engrossed by Translating Myself and Others by Jhumpa Lahiri."---Martin Chilton, The Independent"Lahiri’s ruminations on translation are relatable and luminous. . . . This book embraces simplicity-in-complexity, making it appropriate for both the Lahiri devotee and the uninitiate."---Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Christian Century"[Lahiri] explores [translation] with her customary rigor and candidness in this new essay collection, featuring several pieces originally written in Italian and translated into English by Lahiri for the first time, an act of metamorphosis as dazzling to her as it is to the reader." * Chicago Review of Books *"Throughout these essays, it’s as if Lahiri, feeling misunderstood, were hoping to build a literary home for herself that is ample enough to accommodate her lives as author, translator, academic, and language learner. A home in which she can write, on her own terms, in whatever language she wants, and think, on her own terms, about whatever subject she wants."---Julia Sanches, Astra"The essays . . . are master classes in translation theory and in critical writing about translation. . . . Fascinating and insightful writing."---Lauren Elkin, American Scholar"These essays . . . demonstrate the depths of [Lahiri’s] love for her adopted language. . . . Readers will have a newfound appreciation of the translator's ability to illuminate."---Michael Margas, Shelf Awareness starred review"In this collection of essays, Lahiri gives insights into her processes, as well as penetrating and perceptive thoughts on the act of translating that will be especially illuminating for readers who enjoy translated works."---Joe Rubbo, Readings"This cool, detached book bristles with life and love."---John Self, Observer New Review"There is great joy and intrigue to be found in Lahiri’s ruminations on self-translation. . . . [Translating Myself and Others] is a love letter to not only translation, but to literary criticism as a whole.”—Malavika Praseed, Chicago Review of Books"---Malavika Praseed, Chicago Review of Books"[A] portrait of intelligent, sensitive and deeply humane curiosity . . . inspiring."---James Kidd, South China Morning Post"[T]his latest set of essays proves [Lahiri’s] skill lies in the craft of experimenting with what language can do, both in Italian and English, and both as a writer and as a translator."---Anandi Mishra, Frieze"Translating Myself and Others feels at once ambitious and safe, playful and formulaic, variegated and quasi-myopic."---Carolina Iribaren, Hopscotch Translation"[In Translating Myself and Others] Lahiri achieves the task of portraying her profound love for linguistics and the ways languages give new life to one another in translation. . . . Lahiri’s writing is impeccably strong."---Amanda Janks, Zyzzyva"Readers . . . will find themselves immersed in a voyage of discovery not just of what makes Lahiri the writer and the translator tick, but of how these two facets or ‘containers’ inform, extend, challenge and ultimately re-create her, while at the same time providing much food for thought for the reader."---Lilit Žekulin Thwaites, Sydney Morning Herald"These deeply thoughtful meditations . . . illuminate the art of literary alchemy." * Saga Magazine *"Eloquent. . . . [Lahiri] explores what it means to be a translator, how translating enhances her identity as a writer and vice versa, and how these multiple identities are mutually enriching"---Hayley Armstrong, In Touch"A lyrical meditation on translation and a manifesto establishing translation as an artistic pursuit as creative and authentic as writing in the original language."---Lopamudra Basu, World Literature Today"Anyone interested in the challenges of translating literary works from one language to another will find this book fascinating. . . . It’s certainly a richly rewarding [read]."---Terry Freedman, Teach Secondary"A deep meditation on the art of translation. . . . Lahiri offers a straightforward but profound and lyrical theory of translation."---Lucky Issar, Economic & Political Weekly"A lucid and engaging reflection not only on what it means to translate a text and to properly acknowledge that work, but also what translation signifies beyond the act of individual words being noted down in another language."---Franklin Nelson, Wasafiri Magazine"Rich, deep and, above all, beautifully written, Translating Myself and Others exemplifies the power of words, language, art, ‘‘to explore the phenomenon and the consequences of change itself’’."---Cushla McKinney, Otago Daily News

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Book SynopsisThe second book from acclaimed writer and journalist Joel Golby There's no one funnier than Joel Golby'' GREG JAMESI love this book' DOLLY ALDERTONHow much of your life do you review? Books, TV, film, music the reviewable things? Ever tried going a little further, reviewing the intangibles, the abstract, the weird': a houseplant; the sunlight on the pavement on a crisp spring day; being embarrassed; that strange wave you do at cars when they slow down at zebra crossings. A dead houseplant.From almond croissants to the concept of life itself, Joel Golby embarks on a journey through modern living, leaving no stone unturned no one thing unreviewed to consider what it all really means; why we all care so much about opinions; and whether, deep down, it's better to live a life that's good rather than, well, five stars out of five.

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Book SynopsisIn a beautiful literary exploration, Sally Bayley tracks the evolution and the potential twenty first century death of the diary, mourning what it means to lose the art of writing simply for oneself. Diaries hold all manner of things: they allow us a moment to be completely personal, to self-aggrandise, to focus on self-reflection without concern of what someone on the outside might think. Discovered or published diaries of the past have also provided glimpses into history, eras and minds gone by, especially the inner lives otherwise unknown.Tracing the history of the diary from Samuel Pepys, whose record of the Great Plague and Great Fire of London informed history, through the likes of Virginia Woolf's personal confessions in the twentieth century, and up to the age of social media, Sally Bayley explores the beauty and the power of recording one's own life.Taking this thought all the way up to our era of exposure, with confessional journalism and social media barrage, Bayley explorTrade Review‘A masterly study on the 'long historical habit' of diary writing … Bayley's book succeeds brilliantly in merging scholarship with imagination, and emotional depth with writerly flair’Independent ‘An elegant survey of diaries through history and why we keep them … Bayley is splendidly dismissive of blogs – sending boring screeds into "a blank universe" – and when she defined tweeting as "a sort of premature mental ejaculation" I wrote in the margin in Sylvia Plath-size letters with a Magic Marker: Brava, Sally!’Roger Lewis, The Times ‘A delight for fans of Sylvia Plath as well as diary writers everywhere’Woman's Way Ireland

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Book SynopsisIt is not often that an author and his editor strike up a relationship which survives forty years of epistolary exchanges and intellectual sparring. The strangely enduring and occasionally fractious friendship which developed between the famously outspoken historian Ramachandra Guha and his reticent editor Rukun Advani is the subject of this quite eccentric and thoroughly compelling literary memoir.It started in Delhi in the early 1980s, when Guha was an unpublished PhD scholar, and Advani a greenhorn editor with Oxford University Press. It blossomed through the 1990s, when Guha grew into a pioneering historian of the environment and of cricket, while also writing his pathbreaking biography of Verrier Elwin. Over these years Advani was Guha's most constant confidant, his most reliable reader. He encouraged him to craft and refine the literary style for which Guha became internationally known narrative histories which have made vast areas of scholarship popular and accessible.Four decades later, though he no longer publishes his books, Advani remains Guha's most trusted literary adviser. Yet they also disagree ferociously on politics, human nature, and the shape of their commitment to India. They usually make up because it just wouldn't do to allow such an odd relationship to die.Built around letters and emails between an outgoing and occasionally combative scholar and a reclusive editor prone to private outbursts of savage sarcasm, this book is never short of the kind of wit, humour, and drollery that has been strangled by contemporary political correctness.Trade Review PRAISE FOR REBELS AGAINST THE RAJ ‘A narrative of startling originality … his excitement at discovering a forgotten chapter of Indian history is contagious … As discussions of Britain’s colonial legacy become increasingly polarised, we are in ever more need of nuanced books like this one’Sam Dalrymple, Spectator ‘Fascinating and provocative … Guha organises his material expertly and presents it clearly and stylishly, illuminating an aspect of Raj history which is often forgotten or neglected but which is nonetheless crucial for an understanding both of present-day India and of Britons’ complex and ambivalent past relationship to this ‘jewel’ in their collective crown. This superb book does them justice, as well as adding a new dimension to the histories both of subject India and of imperial Britain – and being a thoroughly good read’Literary Review ‘Guha has done well to remind us of these forgotten stories, all the more as India, like much of the world, is becoming more xenophobic and intolerant, believing all the virtues lie in national frontiers’Irish Times ‘Illuminating and engaging … Guha’s wide-ranging research and lucid narration brings to life these men and women … Rebels Against the Raj, however, makes a larger, more important and incisive point. Guha calls the lives and work of these rebels a morality tale for the world we now inhabit – a world incandescent with xenophobia and jingoism, and full of contempt for thoughts and ideas that a culture can imbibe from outside its borders’New Statesman ‘Eminently readable and dazzling … Painstakingly researched, this is history writing at its best’The Tribune

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Book SynopsisA collection of essential writings from the iconic foremother of Black intellectual history, feminism and activismThe Portable Anna Julia Cooper will introduce a new generation of readers to an educator, public intellectual and community activist whose prescient insights and eloquent prose underlie some of the most important developments in modern American intellectual thought and African-American social and political activism.This volume brings together, for the first time, Anna Julia Cooper''s major collection of essays, A Voice from the South, along with several previously unpublished poems, plays, journalism and selected correspondences, including over thirty previously unpublished letters between Anna Julia Cooper and W. E. B. Du Bois.

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Book Synopsis''The moment I got my job at Virago in 1978 I knew it would be a long time before I would leave. I certainly wouldn''t have had the brazen hope then-only twenty-five and very recently new to Britain-that I would ever become the Publisher, but I did know that I had found my home: where books, ideas, politics, imagination, feminism, and business was the air we breathed . . .''A Bite of the Apple is part-memoir, part history of Virago, and part thoughts on over forty years of feminist publishing. This is the story of how the authors and staff who, driven by passion, conviction and excitement, have made Virago Press one of the most important and influential English-language publishers in the world. Lennie Goodings has been with the iconic press founded by Carmen Callil almost since the start. First a publicist and then for over twenty years, publisher and editor, she has worked with extraordinary authors: Margaret Atwood, Marilynne Robinson, Sarah Waters, Linda Grant, Natasha Walter, Naomi Wolf and Maya Angelou among many others.Virago has been a life-changer for Lennie Goodings - but certainly not only for her. Following the chronology of the press and the enormous breadth of the Virago titles published over these years, she sets her story in the context of feminism, and segues into thoughts on editing, post-feminism, reading, breaking boundaries, and the Virago Modern Classics. Virago lives within the tension between idealism and pragmatism; between sisterhood and celebrity; between watching feminism wax and wane at the same time as knowing so many of the battles are still to be won. This book is about how it felt to be there.A Bite of the Apple is a celebration of writing, of publishing, and of reading.Trade ReviewAn immersive, lovingly written memoir, whose story resonates beyond publishing. * Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Sunday Times *An inspiring book. * Sarah Baxter, The Sunday Times *Pensive and surprisingly poignant...this book glows with the gratitude of doing [the work of an editor], and in doing so, finding oneself occupying a front seat to feminist history...It's a memoir that doesn't merely look backward, but in its form, in all its limitations, gestures at the work to be done. It's a memoir of a Virago reader. * Parul Sehgal, New York Times *Moving and hugely inspiring ... As a cultural history, A Bite of the Apple is clear. As a reminder of female artists' ongoing fight for space and respect, it's necessary. As a riff on writers and writing, it's essential. * Bidisha, The Observer *What Goodings is so good at drawing out are the interrelations between various social and political movements and their correlatives in publishing and literature. Not only does she recover Virago's story, but she loops in the narratives of various authors and movements, building up a rich and textured historical fabric ... An inspiring, entertaining and insightful read, full of the energy and fervour of hard-won wisdom. * Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times *This history has it all: boardroom wrangles, bestsellers, legendary authors ... fascinating stuff on the complex alchemy of talent, political fashion and marketability that propels certain authors forward at certain times, and the loving effort and attention involved in editing a manuscript. * Melissa Benn, New Statesman *What runs through A Bite of the Apple, unifying it and contributing to its charm, is the passion for books you'd expect, but also an impressive idealism about the ways in which the published word can change society and help readers to become the people they want to be. * Mark Bostridge, The Spectator *This little book is as candid and charming as its cover ... One of the most interesting chapters relates to the craft closest to editor Goodings' heart, the craft of editing and the complex relationship between editor and author. * Jane Hailé, New York Journal of Books *[Goodings'] thoughts on the great industry issues of the day are well worth reading. * DJ Taylor, Literary Review *A Bite of the Apple feels effortless, and so alive to the conversations about women's rights today ... [Goodings'] voice is engaging and full of warmth. * Julie Vuong, BookBrunch *Goodings' account of her life at the inkface vividly, and with immediacy, transports us from those poky London rooms where the mouse that roared was born, into the realpolitik of international publishing. * The Sydney Morning Herald *Consistently fascinating ... a book that shows how Virago transformed the world. * Colin Oehring, The Saturday Paper *Fascinating and beautifully written. * Dan Carrier, Camden New Journal *Informative, lively, reflective, and somehow a poignant mix of honest, generous, and forgiving. * Simon, Shiny New Books *All an apple should be: crisp, tart but sweet, steeped in mysterious history and tangled symbolism, and not a bad missile when it comes to alleyway combat. Oh, and delicious! * Margaret Atwood *There is so very much to enjoy -and learn about- in this engaging book. We meet a young Lennie from Canada, in love with books, who lands a job at Virago and over the years survives and steers many of its changes to ensure its safety and vibrancy. Along the way, we track the changes in the publishing industry, feminist practice, and encounter the magnificence of Virago authors. A wonderful memoir and such a great read. * Susie Orbach *An indispensable piece of feminist history; nothing less than the exciting story of how women found their voice and made society listen. I enjoyed it hugely. * Caroline Criado Perez *Lively, frank, fascinating and above all, inspiring. A celebration of boldness: of wanting something better and making change happen. * Sarah Waters *Behind every great book there is a great editor. And behind every feminist press, a remarkable set of women. Lennie Goodings is one of both. * Sarah Dunant *A fascinating, charming and sometimes fierce, but always beguiling memoir... A celebration of the power of women supporting women. * Kate Mosse *Enthralling ...the best book I've read on publishing since Diana Athill's Stet. * Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller *Table of ContentsPreface Part One: A New Kind of Being 1: First Bites: The early years 2: Setting the world on fire 3: The acceptable face of feminism? Why not! Part Two: The Books 4: The Virago Modern Classics 5: Fuck the Patriarchy!: Nonfiction 6: What Stories Can Do: Fiction Part Three: The Politics: office and otherwise 7: The Dramas 8: Disrupting the old stories 9: Beyond Borders 10: Up, Down and Up Again Part Four: The Power to Publish is a Wonderful Thing 11: The Intimacy of Editing 12: Does any other successful publisher get asked constantly if they are still necessary? 13: Why can't a man read like a woman? 14: Giving and taking courage

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Book SynopsisIn this insightful memoir Lennie Goodings takes the reader behind the scenes at Virago, the feminist press that she has led for twenty years. Moving from Virago's early days of independence, through its various commercial incarnations, the author reflects on idealistic publishing and how it feels to be a beacon for change.Trade ReviewAn immersive, lovingly written memoir, whose story resonates beyond publishing. * Johanna Thomas-Corr, The Sunday Times *An inspiring book. * Sarah Baxter, The Sunday Times *Pensive and surprisingly poignant...this book glows with the gratitude of doing [the work of an editor], and in doing so, finding oneself occupying a front seat to feminist history...It's a memoir that doesn't merely look backward, but in its form, in all its limitations, gestures at the work to be done. It's a memoir of a Virago reader. * Parul Sehgal, New York Times *Moving and hugely inspiring ... As a cultural history, A Bite of the Apple is clear. As a reminder of female artists' ongoing fight for space and respect, it's necessary. As a riff on writers and writing, it's essential. * Bidisha, The Observer *What Goodings is so good at drawing out are the interrelations between various social and political movements and their correlatives in publishing and literature. Not only does she recover Virago's story, but she loops in the narratives of various authors and movements, building up a rich and textured historical fabric ... An inspiring, entertaining and insightful read, full of the energy and fervour of hard-won wisdom. * Seán Hewitt, The Irish Times *This history has it all: boardroom wrangles, bestsellers, legendary authors ... fascinating stuff on the complex alchemy of talent, political fashion and marketability that propels certain authors forward at certain times, and the loving effort and attention involved in editing a manuscript. * Melissa Benn, New Statesman *What runs through A Bite of the Apple, unifying it and contributing to its charm, is the passion for books you'd expect, but also an impressive idealism about the ways in which the published word can change society and help readers to become the people they want to be. * Mark Bostridge, The Spectator *This little book is as candid and charming as its cover ... One of the most interesting chapters relates to the craft closest to editor Goodings' heart, the craft of editing and the complex relationship between editor and author. * Jane Hailé, New York Journal of Books *[Goodings'] thoughts on the great industry issues of the day are well worth reading. * DJ Taylor, Literary Review *A Bite of the Apple feels effortless, and so alive to the conversations about women's rights today ... [Goodings'] voice is engaging and full of warmth. * Julie Vuong, BookBrunch *Goodings' account of her life at the inkface vividly, and with immediacy, transports us from those poky London rooms where the mouse that roared was born, into the realpolitik of international publishing. * The Sydney Morning Herald *Consistently fascinating ... a book that shows how Virago transformed the world. * Colin Oehring, The Saturday Paper *Fascinating and beautifully written. * Dan Carrier, Camden New Journal *Informative, lively, reflective, and somehow a poignant mix of honest, generous, and forgiving. * Simon, Shiny New Books *All an apple should be: crisp, tart but sweet, steeped in mysterious history and tangled symbolism, and not a bad missile when it comes to alleyway combat. Oh, and delicious! * Margaret Atwood, on Twitter *There is so very much to enjoy -and learn about- in this engaging book. We meet a young Lennie from Canada, in love with books, who lands a job at Virago and over the years survives and steers many of its changes to ensure its safety and vibrancy. Along the way, we track the changes in the publishing industry, feminist practice, and encounter the magnificence of Virago authors. A wonderful memoir and such a great read. * Susie Orbach *An indispensable piece of feminist history; nothing less than the exciting story of how women found their voice and made society listen. I enjoyed it hugely. * Caroline Criado Perez *Lively, frank, fascinating and above all, inspiring. A celebration of boldness: of wanting something better and making change happen. * Sarah Waters *Behind every great book there is a great editor. And behind every feminist press, a remarkable set of women. Lennie Goodings is one of both. * Sarah Dunant *A fascinating, charming and sometimes fierce, but always beguiling memoir... A celebration of the power of women supporting women. * Kate Mosse *Enthralling ...the best book I've read on publishing since Diana Athill's Stet. * Caroline Sanderson, The Bookseller *Table of ContentsPreface Part One: A New Kind of Being 1: First Bites: The early years 2: Setting the world on fire 3: The acceptable face of feminism? Why not! Part Two: The Books 4: The Virago Modern Classics 5: Fuck the Patriarchy!: Nonfiction 6: What Stories Can Do: Fiction Part Three: The Politics: office and otherwise 7: The Dramas 8: Disrupting the old stories 9: Beyond Borders 10: Up, Down and Up Again Part Four: The Power to Publish is a Wonderful Thing 11: The Intimacy of Editing 12: Does any other successful publisher get asked constantly if they are still necessary? 13: Why can't a man read like a woman? 14: Giving and taking courage

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Book Synopsis''For personal reasons, or for reasons I don''t know myself, I began feeling old, and I began keeping notebooks. I was nearing the age of sixty''Georges Simenon''s autobiographical notebooks, in which he recorded his observations, experiences, anxieties and ''all the silly ideas that pass through my head'', are one of the most candid self-portraits of a writer ever put to paper. Here, as the celebrated author ruthlessly examines his tortuous writing methods, his past, his fame, his intimate relationships and his fears of ageing, the result is an unsparing, often painfully revealing insight into a man trying both to find and to escape himself. ''As revealed in these notebooks, Simenon''s is a shrewd, lucid mind ... the balance tips toward the real, the immediate, the mysteries of human complexity above all ... Utterly unpretentious'' The New York TimesTrade ReviewOne of the most poignant autobiographies. -- New York Time Magazine * Leslie Garis *Fascinating * Sunday Telegraph *Makes you feel he's chatting to you as he would to a good friend. The Simenon of the statistics (books written, women bedded) recedes into the background and Simenon the man comes to the fore. -- Anthony Thuillier * Irish Independent *

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Book SynopsisIn Living to Tell the Tale Gabriel Garcia Marquez - winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize for Literature and author of One Hundred Years of Solitude - recounts his personal experience of returning to the house in which he grew up and the memories that this visit conjured. ''My mother asked me to go with her to sell the house''Gabriel Garcia Marquez was twenty-three, a young man experimenting with his writing when this mother asked him to come back with her to the village of his grandparents and the memories of his Colombian childhood.In the first part of Gabriel Garcia Marquez''s memoir, the Nobel Prize-winning author returns to the atmosphere and influences that shaped his formidable imagination and formed the basis of his world-famous, and much-loved, fiction.''A treasure trove, a discovery of a lost land we knew existed but couldn''t find. A thrilling miracle of a book'' The Times''A marvellous journey. Never less thanTrade ReviewMárquez's greatest book. As a reading experience it is completely magical * Observer *

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Book SynopsisA “sublime” and “radically original” exploration of the Sierra Nevadas, the best mountains on Earth for hiking and camping, from New York Times bestselling novelist Kim Stanley Robinson (Bill McKibben, Gary Snyder). Kim Stanley Robinson first ventured into the Sierra Nevada mountains during the summer of 1973. He returned from that encounter a changed man, awed by a landscape that made him feel as if he were simultaneously strolling through an art museum and scrambling on a jungle gym like an energized child. He has returned to the mountains throughout his life—more than a hundred trips—and has gathered a vast store of knowledge about them. The High Sierra is his lavish celebration of this exceptional place and an exploration of what makes this span of mountains one of the most compelling places on Earth.Over the course of a vivid and dramatic narrative, Robinson describes the geological forces that shaped the

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Book Synopsis''It''s for everyone. Candid, authentic and utterly charming'' Sarah Waters, author of Tipping the Velvet''Funny and super relatable'' Alice Oseman, author of HeartstopperA tender and funny graphic memoir about identity, love and Willow from BuffyEllie always knew she was different. Contrary and creative, she wore black, obsessed over Willow in Buffy and somehow never really liked boys. As she grew, so did her fears and a deep sense of unbelonging. From her first communion to her first girlfriend via a swathe of self-denial, awkward encounters and everyday courage, Ellie''s journey is told through tender and funny illustrations - a self-portrait sketched out from the heart.The Times I Knew I Was Gay reminds us that sexuality is not often determined by falling in love with others, but by coming to terms with oneself; that people must come out not just once but again and again. Full of vitality Trade ReviewCandid, so funny, and super relatable. Perfectly captures all of the confusing, complex, scary, and euphoric realisations in coming to terms with your sexuality. * Alice Oseman, author of Heartstopper *Crewes' beautifully illustrated memoir will appeal to anyone who's had to negotiate the awkward, thrilling, sometimes hilarious, sometimes bewildering loops and cul-de-sacs of the journey into adulthood and self-knowledge. In other words, it's for everyone. A candid, authentic and utterly charming book. * Sarah Waters *Beautiful - I cried and couldn't stop reading. It's a wonderful inspiration. * Sara Quin, of Tegan and Sara *Moving, funny, romantic, wise and honest. I wanted to shout 'I felt like that too!' so many times while reading this book - it will help so many people feel less alone. It's a beautifully told memoir about accepting yourself for who you are, and finding peace, happiness and love. * Kate Davies, author of In at the Deep End *A really poignant look at the fuzziness and confusions of queer life * Ruby Tandoh, author of Eat Up *Evocative, authentic and hilarious. As a gay woman I'm constantly looking for content that feels true to my own experiences, that helps me understand myself more. In this book, I found that * Tillie Walden, author of Spinning *Ellie Crewes' honesty should be applauded in quietly and succinctly challenging a social obsession with trying to fit people's sexualities into restrictive categories * Nicola Streeten, author and co-founder of Laydeez Do Comics *Witty, poignant and beautifully observed * Andy Oliver, Broken Frontier *Charming, honest and very readable * Alex Thomas, Pipedream Comics *First published as a hand-stitched zine that Crewes delivered around London on her bike, The Times I Knew I Was Gay won us over before we'd even started reading. While this frank and touching graphic memoir touches on many familiar queer experiences of growing up, such as bullying and an obsession with Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Crewes is admirably candid about her own shortcomings - "I was pretty scared of being rejected so I took my fears out on my friends" - and her struggles with food which she describes as "a subconscious way to direct myself from the fact that I was gay". It's not all sad, however - Crewes's description of her first love after coming out is adorable. This heart-warming book is also a welcome reminder that coming out looks very different for each of us and that there is no "right way" to do so * Independent *The book brims with hope, and the joy that arises when one is finally ready to step out into the world * O, The Oprah Magazine *Crewes' commitment to telling a not-neat story is the best thing about her great memoir . . . When young adult Ellie looks into a doorframe filled with five of her past selves readers have gotten to know each one, and will fully appreciate having been let in on the journey. * Booklist, starred review *

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Book Synopsis''Janet Frame''s luminous words are the more precious because they were snatched from the jaws of the disaster of her early life. It is one of the classics of autobiography. She knew that a writer must search her soul in order to say anything that is essential'' HILARY MANTEL''Janet Frame is the greatest New Zealand writer. She is utterly herself. Any one of her books could be published today and it would be ground-breaking'' ELEANOR CATTONAfter being misdiagnosed with schizophrenia as a young woman, Janet Frame spent several years in psychiatric institutions. She escaped undergoing a lobotomy when it was discovered that she had just won a national literary prize. She then went on to become New Zealand''s most acclaimed writer. As she says more than once in this autobiography: ''My writing saved me.''This edition contains all three volumes of Frame''s autobiography: To the Is-Land, An Angel at My Table and An Envoy from Mirror C

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Book SynopsisDelivered in Stockholm on 7 December 2017, My Twentieth Century Evening and Other Small Breakthroughs is the lecture of the Nobel Laureate in Literature, Kazuo Ishiguro. A generous and hugely insightful biographical sketch, it explores his relationship with Japan, reflections on his own novels and an insight into some of his inspirations, from the worlds of writing, music and film. Ending with a rallying call for the ongoing importance of literature in the world, it is a characteristically thoughtful and moving piece.

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Book Synopsis''Every woman on Earth should read it'' Caroline Overington, Weekend AustralianHaving lived through the humiliation and bewildering complexity of heartbreak in her twenties, Nikki Gemmell eventually resurfaced, reclaimed space for herself and found her voice. Decades later she has written a deeply personal, profoundly intimate reflection on love and female creativity, and what happens when the two collide in a man''s world.Dissolve is a conversation. A conversation with the young women of Gemmell''s teenage daughter''s generation, and of course with men.''Reading this memoir is like therapy for the soul'' ArtsHub''one of the most enriching, yet debilitating reads I''ve experienced... tremendous, moving writing'' Jessie Tu, Women''s Agenda''Nikki Gemmell wrote this book for me, and I suspect there will be many women who feel the same way... Each page is imbued with startling self-awareness and profound wis

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Book SynopsisThree-term poet laureate Joy Harjo offers a vivid, lyrical and inspiring call for love and justice in this contemplation of her trailblazing life

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